World Health Organization leadership says sweeping staff reductions are unavoidable after the United States halted taxpayer funding, leaving the agency facing one of the most severe financial shocks in its history.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
The World Health Organization has begun implementing significant budget and workforce reductions after the withdrawal of U.S. taxpayer funding sharply reduced the agency’s finances, according to remarks delivered by Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at the organization’s annual executive board meeting in Geneva.
Ghebreyesus told delegates that 2025 has been “undeniably one of the most difficult years in our organisation’s history,” citing widespread financial pressure as major donors scale back contributions. His comments were delivered as part of a broader assessment of the agency’s funding shortfall, reported by AFP.
“Significant cuts to our funding left us with no choice but to reduce the size of our workforce,” Ghebreyesus said, confirming that staffing reductions are now underway as the agency adjusts to lower revenue.
The financial crisis follows President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the W.H.O., a move announced on the first day of his return to office in January 2025. Under the terms of U.S. membership established when the country joined the organization in 1948, Washington retained the right to exit with one year’s notice, provided all financial obligations for the relevant fiscal year were met.
Trump cited concerns that the W.H.O. had become overly deferential to China during the coronavirus pandemic, a criticism reiterated by his administration in public statements and official communications. A video shared by the Trump War Room on X highlighted the administration’s position as the withdrawal process formally concluded.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said the decision to leave was driven by what it described as the W.H.O.’s mishandling of the pandemic, resistance to internal reform, and vulnerability to political pressure from member states.
With the one-year notice period now expired, the United States has withheld its 2024 and 2025 membership dues, leaving an estimated $260 million unpaid. The funding gap has had an outsized impact on the organization, as the United States had been the W.H.O.’s largest single donor in recent years. In 2020 alone, Washington contributed more than $400 million to the agency.
As the withdrawal took full effect, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. issued joint criticism of the organization, stating that the W.H.O. had “tarnished and trashed everything that America has done for it,” and asserting that “the insults to America” continued through the final stages of the exit.
The funding crisis also prompted broader criticism from other member states. During the executive board meeting, Israel said the organization had become increasingly politicized and argued that the U.S. departure should serve as a catalyst for a fundamental reassessment of the United Nations agency’s mission, governance, and future role.
W.H.O. leadership has warned that without substantial new funding sources or structural changes, further reductions and programmatic cutbacks may follow as the agency attempts to stabilize its finances in the post-U.S. funding era.
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